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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29123796">Comfort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira'>Kalira</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pack Love [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Comfort Object, Discord: Umino Hours, Gen, Konohagakure Orphanage, Omega Verse, Orphanage, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Pack Feels, Umino Hours Winter Bingo, Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020-2021</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:40:25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29123796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi left Iruka with his coat, which he fully intended to hand back or just get rid of . . . but has become far more than simply a bit of cold weather gear for Iruka since his afternoon ensconced in safe, comfortable warmth with Kakashi.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Pack Love [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099499</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kalira's Iruka Winter Bingo Stories (2020-2021), The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Comfort</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the space 'Winter Memories' on <a href="https://kalira.dreamwidth.org/33520.html">my Iruka Winter Bingo board</a>!</p><p>The final (25th!) story I have written for this event, which ends tonight~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Straightening from collecting another dropped mitten - this one didn’t match any of the three she had already found - Natsumi’s nose twitched, and she paused. She bent again, drawing a deeper breath.</p><p>That was most definitely the scent of another alpha; a <i>mature</i> alpha, in a dorm than housed no one over the age of twelve. The scent wasn’t familiar beyond that, but it made Natsumi’s neck prickle. She dropped the mitten in her basket and put it down on one of the nearby beds as she hunted about for the source of the scent.</p><p>She wound in a circling pattern among the beds, and on the fourth one she flipped back bedding she found it. There was a heap of fur just under the top edge of the blanket, near the pillow, which, when she picked it up, proved to be a heavy winter coat.</p><p>Natsumi’s brows rose, and she leaned closer, breathing in to confirm what her senses were telling her. This close, she could scent one of the orphans on it as well - Iruka; it was his bed, and this coat, which had very clearly been worn in by a mature alpha, had been tucked right into it as though it <i>belonged</i> there.</p><p>Natsumi growled softly, concern tugging at the back of her mind. This was not a castoff; it might not be new - the unfamiliar alpha’s scent was thick in the fur and the lining, whoever he was he had worn it well - but it showed almost no wear, and the scent was fresh and clean.</p><p>Iruka had never scented of anyone but the others at the orphanage and his Academy classmates; his parents had been his only family, and he <i>knew</i> no one else.</p><p>Natsumi reached out, then hesitated with her fingers a hair’s-breadth from the thick white fur.</p><p>Perhaps- She should ask Iruka about it . . . or bring it to Yunao-senpai.</p><p>It wasn’t her place to <i>take</i> it, certainly. Natsumi bit her lip, tilting her head, then grabbed hold of the coat and picked it up, nose twitching.</p><p>It didn’t make her feel much relieved that the scents on the coat were clean and simple . . . and while there were layers of emotional markers in the alpha’s scent, most were old, and none were. . .</p><p>Natsumi dropped the coat back on Iruka’s bed - she had no cause to take it from his possession, whatever her concerns. It really was a fine piece of clothing, well-made and no doubt very warm; far better than anything else Iruka owned - which begged the question of <i>why</i> this alpha who must have only just <i>met</i> Iruka had given it to him.</p><p>A personal item, rich with his own scent, wrapped up in Iruka’s possession now, and likely had been wrapped around <i>him</i>, perhaps <i>possessively</i>.</p><p>Natsumi bared her teeth, but flung the blanket back up over the coat and turned on her heel, collecting her basket and continuing on her rounds. She glanced back at Iruka’s bed, unremarkable from here, before she left the dorm, the scent of a strong alpha in her nose.</p><p>
  <i>What have you gotten yourself into, Iruka . . . are you safe. . .</i>
</p><hr/><p>Iruka shivered a bit even as he let himself back inside, where it was nicely warm. It wasn’t <i>that</i> warm even inside the main orphanage building, and it was still ugly cold outside, with yet more snow falling and harsh winds tossing it around and biting through clothing to sting at skin.</p><p>His thoughts darted upstairs to the coat hidden away in his bed, and Iruka felt his face warm under the stinging numbness of cold. He. . . Maybe he should have worn it?</p><p>Iruka rubbed his hands up and down his arms firmly, trying to warm up quicker. He felt a shadow of Kakashi’s arm winding around him, sheltering him from the wind and cuddling him close when they had been inside Kakashi’s apartment, when. . .</p><p>Maybe he <i>should</i> have, Iruka thought, biting at the inside of his cheek. It would no doubt have brought some questions, but he didn’t <i>have</i> to indulge that - he was good at distractions, that was <i>easy</i> - and Kakashi’s coat was so <i>warm</i>. . .</p><p>Warm and comfortable and-</p><p>Iruka sighed wistfully, only to shove those thoughts - memories, imaginings, wishes. . . - away sharply as someone called his name. He turned around with a grin before he’d even seen which of the others had been yelling for him.</p>
<hr/><p>Michiru checked the time and pulled himself up with a yawn, ready to do his final rounds for the night and then turn in at last. It would be someone else’s job to manage the next check in a few hours, and deal with the children in the morning.</p><p>He headed up the stairs; he would start at the top floor and work his way down, and pass off any notes to the next shift on his way out. Assuming they weren’t late. Again.</p><p>There were a few children who had left their beds, but they were all easily found - one had rolled onto the floor, one was in the bathroom, and two had bunked with siblings. Michiru woke the first and nudged her back into bed, and left the latter where they were. It was no matter of concern if the children felt more comfortable nesting together, so long as they were all happy with it and they <i>had</i> their own beds available if they wished, and he could tell by scent that they were content where they were.</p><p>Michiru paused, looking down at the omega curled up tight at the edge of his bed. He didn’t look like he was going to fall out, though, so Michiru left him undisturbed.</p><p>He paused, then bent a little closer. It was Iruka’s bed, and he had something clutched up against his chest. At first Michiru had thought it was a smaller child, out of their dorm, but it was clearly not; it was an armful of almost brilliant white fluff Iruka had cuddled close, high enough to hide almost half his face.</p><p>Iruka didn’t sleep with a plush, and Michiru had never seen him cuddling anything before. And this smelled of. . .</p><p>Michiru’s brows rose as he straightened. “Well then.” he murmured, shaking his head as he continued on his way. “Lucky little snot, aren’t you all set. Clever thing.”</p><p>Getting himself the attention of an alpha already, even if <i>he</i> didn’t carry the alpha’s scent. . . He might get himself into trouble down that path, but good on him getting such an in at this age. Michiru didn’t recognise the scent of the alpha, but it definitely belonged to a strong, mature alpha - and one who had gifted Iruka something, whatever it was, that was saturated in his scent, if it was so noticeable even in the midst of the dorm, with Iruka wrapped around it in his bed.</p><p>If he pursued that he had a good start on being well-looked-after, if Michiru was any guess.</p><p>The next floor down, Michiro caught one of the oldest orphans opening the window, his sandals in hand, and hauled him back by the collar, sending him to bed and locking up the window again, shaking his head. It was still layers of snow and ice outside, for all that, where did he think he was going in his nightshirt?</p><p>Michiru would have to highlight that when he was catching up the next shift, but he doubted the silly young alpha would try again tonight. Best bring it up to Yunao just in case it was a persistent issue. That was for later, however.</p>
<hr/><p>Yawning, Iruka slid into his bed, hardly bothering to keep his blanket up high enough to hide the coat tucked away there until he was beneath it himself. No one had really seemed to notice the coat, and . . . well, Iruka had no intention of letting it go, regardless.</p><p>Besides, so what if someone saw it in his bed? It was warm and . . . and nice.</p><p>Iruka might even start wearing it for real; he kept thinking about it, partly because it was <i>so cold</i> and partly because the idea of carrying the scent of it around, wrapping him up like a gentle embrace - a <i>protective</i> embrace, a quiet part of Iruka’s instincts whispered - made Iruka feel wriggly and safe and happy.</p><p>A little like Kakashi had himself, but without even the faintest tinges of uncertainty Iruka had still felt in his presence.</p><p>Iruka settled in on his side, the coat tucked cosily in his arms, and nestled his face against the soft fur, drawing a slow breath. It was thick with Kakashi’s clean, clear scent, despite the time it had been in Iruka’s possession, despite that he had slept with it held close every night since then, and Iruka felt as though a cosy warmth were rolling over him as he breathed it in, fingers curling into the fur.</p><p>Though he was alone - in his bed at least; the dorm was full, but Iruka always felt alone here, double so when night fell - his thoughts flowed back to when he had been snugly settled on Kakashi’s bed, in Kakashi’s tiny but secure, quiet apartment. Kakashi wrapping Iruka in a blanket that smelled of him, offering him food and supporting him when he wavered, even opening a comfortingly secure embrace to him and simply letting Iruka nestle against his body.</p><p>Iruka nuzzled the coat sleepily, pressing his cheek against it as he had against Kakashi’s shoulder, faintly wishing that the coat had Kakashi’s solid strength and warmth.</p><p>Iruka had only spent a short time in his presence really, and shorter still held so close, but he had made Iruka feel safe, fussed over, <i>cared for</i>. Seen, accepted, but openly and gently in truth, not only for whatever he chose to show.</p><p>As Iruka drifted to sleep the feel of the coat in his arms morphed in his imaginings, just a little, and rather than holding an armful of fur and fabric he felt the shadow sensation of being cradled in strong arms himself, held close to an alpha’s chest - <i>his</i> alpha’s chest, he imagined sleepily, warmth fluttering in his chest - with his face tucked against Kakashi’s bony collarbone, just where he had tucked it when resting in Kakashi’s easily offered half-embrace.</p><p>Iruka slipped into warm, pleasant dreams, burying his face a little deeper against the coat with a faint sigh.</p>
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